Pelicans are perhaps best known as an instrumental post-metal band, embodying that mix of post-rock dynamics and metal heaviness. On new single “The Cliff” they add vocals to the mix, and have asked a couple of friends to contribute some remixes. There’s a typically great one from genre-defying rock god JK Broadrick, and one by Palms, which we heard tonight. Palms is the band that the “other” members of ISIS formed after Aaron Turner (another genre-defying rock god if ever there was one) dissolved the band. Featuring Chino Moreno of the Deftones, their album was a decidedly less challenging affair than ISIS – but they’re all superlative musicians, and their remix here is an exploratory journey.

We heard expat Brisvegan Mirko last week on the show, and hear another track from his forthcoming digital EP on Room40 tonight. Synth drones and pulsating basslines ahoy!

Speaking of synths, Canberra’s Raus gives us a veritable Casio keyboard odyssey in almost 13 minutes from his LP from last year on hellosQuare. You can listen to an hour-long mix I just finished (including spoken bits) of my favourite hellosQuare releases right now at Mixcloud.

Adelaide’s Michael Radzevicius aka Glamour Lakes has played in a few bands through the years including Aviator Lane – and the previous incarnation of Glamour Lakes was a more indie-pop (electronic) affair. The new material sees him taking tips from Tim Hecker as well as Vatican Shadow, from a more glitchy ambient sound. It’ll be interesting to hear what else turns up in the album due out in May.

Hessien is the cross-continental duo of Charlie Sage aka y0t0 (Queenbeyan, NSW) and Tim Martin aka Maps and Diagrams. Guitars and dreamy electronics brush up against each other in ambient almost-drone tracks which give up a lot of detail if you immerse yourself in them.

Daniel W J Mackenzie has been making music as Ekca Liena for some years, also inhabiting the world of not-quite-drone. His Slow Music For Rapid Eye Movement made a big impression when I came across it a few years ago; he’s made drones, noise rock, space rock, and even collaborated with Aidan Baker along the way, but this is his first “album proper” in some time. The 13-minute track we heard tonight is the centrepiece of an album that encompasses a lot of those styles. Here we have drones, but plenty of movement, a repetitive rock groove and noise crescendo. Quite excellent.

Richard Adams of Hood has by now been making music for long enough as The Declining Winter – with or without accompanying band – that I shouldn’t need to refer to his previous band, except that they’re one of the most important (if neglected by the mainsteam) bands of the last couple of decades. Suffice to say they’re hugely important for me, and so when one of the Adams brothers has a new release it’s big news. And this is definitely Richard’s best work outside of Hood – great songs of great variety, and although his signature lurching guitar patterns are there in some tracks, there’s also strumming postpunk phrasings, some great plodding synth basslines, and even a bit of indiepop with organ and piano in there. Out on March 23rd, pre-order your copy now!

Dublin producer Dunk Murphy has been featured a lot of UFog over the years, from his duo Ambulance to his solo work as Sunken Foal. Electronica which isn’t afraid to build its melodies around acoustic guitar or piano, it’s as melodic as the best of Plaid, say, and as rhythmically inventive as Luke Vibert, say. And it’s lots of fun.

Grasscut started out on the Ninja Tune label, but have found a home now with Lo Recordings. Their new single is surprisingly (indie-)pop, but the b-side has that gentle early-Tunng-like folktronic feel that they’re known for. There’s a new album coming out soon.

We heard from Sydney artist CORIN a few weeks ago as she’s released a remix EP, but tonight we heard from last year’s Deluge EP, with a lovely synth composition to round out the show.

Labels and artists!

email: utilityfog at frogworth dot com
Utility Fog teeters on the cusp between acoustic and electronic, organic and digital. Constantly changing and rearranging, this aural cloud of nanotech consumes genres and spits them out in new forms. Whether cataloguing the jungle resurgence, tracking the ups and downs of noise and drone, or unearthing the remnants of glitch and folktronica, all is contextualised within artist & genre histories for a fulfilling sonic journey.
Since all these genre names are already pretty ridiculous, we thought we'd coin a new one. So "postfolkrocktronica" it is. Wear it.